David Luiz is impressing at Chelsea while Jordan Henderson’s place looks up for grabs and Huddersfield are on the rackBernd Leno was quick to do the decent thing and explain he was clearly not happy to see Petr Cech pull up with a hamstring injury, but at the same time the competitor in him cannot wait to seize his chance. The German keeper signed for Arsenal more than three months ago and has had to be patient to wait for Premier League football. Unai Emery had told Leno his time would come at some stage. “Some weeks ago he said you have to work hard, be calm, because I played for just one professional club in Germany and it is...
A centre-forward who works hard but doesn’t score is still a costly luxury for any clubThere was a moment in Maurizio Sarri’s post‑match press conference on Saturday when, having eulogised Eden Hazard and spoken of the way he has challenged him to score 40 goals this season, the Chelsea manager was asked about the danger of being dependent on one player. Pedro and Willian, he replied, could score 10.Which is fair. Pedro has three league goals this season and Willian one. There is no reason at all why one, or both, couldn’t get up to double figures in all competitions (which was, Sarri had stressed, what he was talking about; he was not anticipating Hazard scoring 40 in the league)....
The Belgian was the star of the show for Chelsea once more but Liverpool have plenty of reasons to be cheerful despite the dip in form of their talismanic forwardTwenty minutes after the final whistle, with the sky above the stands fading to a deep pinky-blue, the Liverpool fans were still singing. This was an excellent game with elements of cheer for both teams in a 1-1 draw – and indeed for Manchester City, too, who saw both their main title rivals gouge a piece out of each other at Stamford Bridge.For Liverpool’s supporters, there was a little extra feeling in taking a well-deserved point through Daniel Sturridge’s brilliant late equaliser. There are two elements to this. Most obviously, Liverpool...
Some feel it is just a matter of time before the Belgian leaves Chelsea for Spain but perhaps he realises he may never be quite so brilliant anywhere elseAlmost all of the world’s problems, from daily irritations to long-term catastrophe models, are caused by people doing things. It’s not hard to trace the line of cause and effect. Growth, progress, reaching out, growing as a person: these are invariably the areas where things start to go awry, distractions from the safety of idleness, entropy and generally not doing much.This is not a new idea. The Ten Commandments in the book of Exodus aren’t really commandments in the active sense. They’re prohibitions, warnings against the ancient menace of doing things. As...
Saturday’s league meeting offers another chance to see two sides with similar setups but Jorginho’s arrival has pushed N’Golo Kanté out of his comfort zonePress against press, 4-3-3 against 4-3-3, wide forwards who cut in against wide forwards who cut in, attacking full-back against attacking full-back: Chelsea against Liverpool on Saturday, Maurizio Sarri against Jürgen Klopp, will be a meeting of two very similar conceptions of football. Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup meeting, even with significantly altered line-ups, highlighted those similarities, and also the fact that the main difference lies in midfield. Chelsea may have won at Anfield, but it is in the centre that Liverpool perhaps have an edge. Related: Chelsea’s Eden Hazard fires spectacular winner to knock out Liverpool...